


Still (Until you moved me)

by daiquiri21



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Depression, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, meet cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:33:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24856921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daiquiri21/pseuds/daiquiri21
Summary: Steve hates it in the 21st century, where everything is so different. Life's a mess, the only constant thing being SHIELD coming to check on him. Until he meets Tony Stark, a brilliant genius who makes him feel more human.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 4
Kudos: 38
Collections: Stony Loves Steve 2020





	Still (Until you moved me)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



The keys made a rattling noise when he dropped them into the dish that caught them at 7:00 P.M. every evening. He contemplated flicking the light switch, but decided against it. The fluorescence of today’s lightbulbs didn’t give him any comfort, so they usually remained unlit. He removed his shoes, placing them neatly by the door so he wouldn’t track the dirt of the day through an apartment that wasn’t his. It was his according to the SHIELD agent who’d given him the address, but he knew it wasn’t. You didn’t feel like a stranger in your own home. 

Take a break, Cap. That was the advice Steve had been given that first day he’d woken up in a world he didn’t recognize. People do that nowadays apparently. Take breaks when things get tough. Not a practice he’d associated with himself until recently.

His feet took him to the bathroom, and he showered himself off in less than five minutes as he always did. Water bills were more expensive now too. Everything was. And since SHIELD was currently taking care of his financial needs, or so he’d been told at the briefing he’d sat through, he wasn’t too fond of overspending money that wasn’t his. 

Every other week on Thursday at 12:00 P.M. sharp, a SHIELD agent would come by to see him. They would ask him how he was adjusting. Fine. They would ask if he was finding everything alright. Yes. They would end by asking if there was anything else he needed. He would simply shake his head instead of asking for his life back like he wanted. He knew SHIELD didn’t have that kind of power. No one did as far as he knew. 

After they left, he was alone till they visited him again. He was relieved they never asked him how he spent his days. Routine was more or less his specialty, and he stuck to the one he’d established religiously. He’d wake up at 5:00 AM every morning, brush, shower, dress, eat a bowl of oatmeal, and catch the 7:00 AM train to go to Manhattan. Staying and exploring Brooklyn was a bit overwhelming still. 

He’d stroll around the city streets, keeping to the side so as to not be in the way of the many busy-bodies that buzzed around in a rush to get to places Steve didn’t know. He’d discovered an outdoor café during one of his excursions and had included it into his routine, stopping there for a sandwich and a coffee everyday for lunch. He always sat at the same table, in the same chair with the same view. It was a construction site for a building taller than any around by the looks of it. Steve found the construction site to be a staple in his life. Everyday something would have changed about it. Grown. It was the only thing in Steve’s world that changed. The only thing that grew. 

He’d stay at the café for hours, watching the people come and leave and pass by. He’d watch the cars on the road buzz with impatience as they inched along in the city traffic. He’d catch a word or two of conversation, even though he wasn’t actively trying to eavesdrop. He’d watch the construction of this mystery building continue on in front of him. He could probably find out what it was they were building. But he felt the mystery, the wait was a large part of why he was so intrigued by it. 

While he sat there, he would draw. He’d picked up a leather bound sketch book at a small shop on one of his earlier outings along with some charcoal pencils which he carried with him everyday. He’d sketch what he saw, capturing still images of the always moving world around him.

Stillness. 

He stilled the world around him in his drawings. Stilled them like he’d been still all these years. Try to find something in common with this future-present by stilling it. If it was still, just for a moment, maybe he could be a part of it. But it never stilled. And he couldn’t move yet.

He would leave the café when the construction was done for the day, his still world safe in the pocket of his jacket. He’d stop by a small restaurant to pick up his daily order of chicken breast, mashed potatoes, and broccoli before catching the train that would take him back to Brooklyn, arriving in his apartment at 7:00 P.M each day. 

His five minutes were up and Steve dutifully turned the water off. He stepped out and toweled himself dry before changing into the standard issue sweat pants and white T-Shirt that Shield provided him a couple pairs of. He picked up his takeout from where he’d set it by the front door over to the kitchenette on the right side of his apartment.

That’s when he noticed the manila folder sitting on the counter. He narrowed his eyes at the intruding file, his movements careful and calculated as he picked it up and opened it.

An invitation? To the Avengers Initiative Fundraiser Gala. 

Steve sighed at the idea of having to go to some fancy party filled with people he didn’t know for a cause barely knew anything about. He’d heard the name “Avengers” mentioned before, but he wasn’t too sure about what this initiative was exactly. Just that it involved him somehow and was meant to make the world a safer place. Not too specific really.

Behind the invitation was a note addressed to him specifically. 

Captain, I think it’s about time we got you back in the real world. An outfit will be delivered to you the day of the event and a driver will come to pick you up an hour ahead of time. 

Fury

Not an option then. Steve set the invitation back in the Manila folder and set it down. The gala was only a couple days away. Fury wasn’t stupid. He knew he wouldn’t have been doing anything. Steve resented that he’d become that predictable. He sighed and started to unbox his takeout instead. 

Best to just get this whole gala thing done and over with.

~•~

Steve tugged a bit at the collar of his suit. The suits of the 21st century were tighter than what he was used to. That or someone had gotten his measurements wrong when SHIELD had this tailored for him. Either way, it was stuffy and unpleasant. Much like the event itself.

There were over a hundred people and their plus ones milling around the gala hall. Every single one of them was dressed black tie formal, as was the dress code, and held themselves with an heir of superiority that made Steve squirm in his skin. He didn’t belong here. Surrounded by people that clearly had more money than they knew what to do with, representing an organization he wasn’t familiar with. 

He’d ordered himself a whiskey that he didn’t plan to drink (it was more for show anyway) and slunk by the bar, trying to stay out of everyone’s way. He might have been physically stronger than everyone in the room, but he felt like a little kid from Brooklyn right now. Like anyone of these people could run him over and not even see that they’d done it. It wasn’t exactly the same though. This time he didn’t feel like he had the confidence to go up against any of them if they did. 

He was lost in thoughts of the old days, galas with the Howling Commandos after raids, music playing, Bucky going around flirting with all the available ladies...Peggy… He sighed. That chapter of his life was closed now. He needed to accept that. In some ways he had. He just had yet to move on. He didn’t know how he planned on doing that.

He was pulled out of his reverie when the crowd of reporters that had been haggling the guests with questions suddenly swarmed towards the entrance of the hall. He frowned curiously and glanced in their direction, trying to see what had piqued their interest.

And he couldn’t tear his eyes away.

The man that walked through the grand double doors moved with an easy grace that made it seem like he was in command of the whole crowd. Everyone’s eyes were stuck on him as he greeted guests and reporters, letting them take their pictures and ask their questions without being fazed. His energy was infectious as he jogged up the steps onto the stage and grabbed the mic off the podium that Fury had stood at earlier when the gala started. Fashionably late then. Somehow, Steve felt that this man never arrived at an event on time. But it wouldn’t matter to him because the event didn’t start until he got there. 

Steve was caught on his every word as he addressed the crowd and introduced himself. Tony Stark. Lead benefactor of the Avengers Initiative. Howard Stark’s son. It felt like a blast from his past and something brand new at the same time. Steve’s grip tightened on his crystal decanter, loosening immediately when he felt the cut crystal start to splinter. 

He was distracted in handing the decanter back to one of the waiters and getting a new one to hide his blunder that he missed when Tony left the stage. He looked up again and felt disappointment well in his chest seeing that the magnetic man was gone. He pressed his lips together and turned away towards the bar again, sipping the bitter whiskey though it would do nothing for him.

A tap on his shoulder had him spinning around in surprise, the fight or flight mode he instantly fell into nowadays in control when he came face to face with the very man he’d been staring at moments ago.

“Captain Rogers, if I’m not mistaken? It’s a pleasure to meet you. Tony Stark,” he introduced, holding his hand out to him. Steve blinked a couple times dumbly before realizing he hadn’t moved, and shakes his hand firmly. 

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Stark,” he said, setting his whiskey aside. 

“Please, call me Tony. If we’re going to be working together soon, we may as well be on a first name basis,” Mr. Stark—Tony said. 

“Uh yeah. Then...I guess you can call me Steve,” he said in return, and he felt his lips twitch unnaturally. It took him a second to realize that it had been a smile. He wasn’t sure how long it had been since he’d done that without it being forced. 

Tony smirked and pulled his hand back finally. Steve didn’t know why that left him feeling a little empty inside. 

“Well, Steve, I have to get back to schmoozing some money out of our potential co-benefactors. I think having Captain America at my side might be an asset,” he hummed, waving at the waiter who handed him his own cut crystal decanter of whiskey. 

It was then that the man’s red tinted sunglasses came off, revealing rich chocolate eyes that he remembered on someone else that had been just as captivating…

“Besides. These things are typically less excruciating in good company,” he said, waving his shades with a careless ease, hooking them on the collar of his shirt. 

Steve heard a small, low laugh, and didn’t recognize it as his own until Tony smirked in response and cocked his head towards the rest of the attendees. 

“What do you say, Captain? Join me?” He asked. 

And Steve, for the first time since crashing into the ice, wasn’t frozen anymore. 

He nodded and followed this enticing man into the crowd, interacting with who he interacted with and avoiding those he avoided. He was like a guiding light in this new world he had yet to learn to navigate. And Steve was more than happy to let him lead him along.

The world was moving around him as fast as it had ever been. As fast as it had been everyday he’d sat in that café and tried to capture it.

Only now, following Tony through the throngs of people, he felt like he was moving along with it.

Not still anymore.


End file.
